'Wow, when did this become a cat fight?' He watched from the corner of his eye as the Augurer was furious. It had been a jerk move, but it served some purpose to observe the idiotic behavior of his former head of department.
"Lady Chriseis, is that your decision? Do you prefer a pair that is below your stature?" asked the high priest.
Glax already suspected the truth, but now he was sure he wasn't in the good graces of Stygia's religious elite.
"They are like that because he's cute, but you won't regret it. Don't hesitate any longer. Pick me!" Rasmus spoke, beside him, to the nearest woman, extending his hand to her.
Glax glanced at who his comrade was flirting with.
She was a graceful woman in white clothes, with long wavy hair dyed blue. At the same time, the high priest was getting more and more irritated, and yelled,
"SHUT UP! Don't you have any respect?! What do you want with this insolence and turmoil in Coeus' temple! If the Ascended Ones punish you, it's because of the lack of piety with which you treat the blessings of the gods. Marriage is sacred!"
"Yeah. We respect the gods. I cannot choose another one, because this is what the Heavens have assigned me. If you have doubts, ask the Heavens, not me. Megara, don't delay in choosing… There are only four left!" Chriseis declared.
Rasmus was already holding hands with the pretty girl with blue hair, and more interested in smiling at her than the rest of the ceremony. Glax scratched his ear, feeling Proctius's gaze throwing daggers at him.
Another woman dressed in warrior clothing muttered,
"This is not right. Lady Chriseis, your achievements are important to our clan, but we all have our value."
"Lady Chriseis, if you trust the gods, let the boxes decide."
Rasmus grunted, and Lady Jolla, the woman holding hands with him, said,
"I know the gods will only confirm what I saw. Whatever you want, the results will remain the same!"
"If so, then let the boxes choose!" Chriseis said, satisfied. "I will take whatever they assign me. Megara, do you want to find out which one of us is the god's chosen?"
"Wow, this is escalating fast, ladies!" Glax waved his hands. "Please don't make this stranger feel so important!"
"Don't be an idiot," muttered Proctius. "Let's open the boxes."
"We will start with the one who decided the end of the Games, and we will end with the last one to arrive," said the priest, trying to hasten the end of it. The audience showed their approval, and everyone went back to their designated places.
Proctius took a step forward with his box, which was opened. The audit started.
Glax was surprised to find that Proctius had really believed everything he said, and had not even bothered to find more opponents to defeat.
The 21 tokens impressed and received applause. Chriseis stood with her arms crossed, feigning indifference.
'The power of math!' he rejoiced, knowing that in this case, Rasmus was the champion, followed by him.
His rejoicing faded soon, as he wasn't the least bit excited about being the toy boy of the tough Amazon women who fought for him. Rasmus was the one who would marry the High Wall Chriseis, instead of being with the beautiful Jolla.
And Glax would marry Megara… 'Wow, that's cool. No.'
Rasmus went ahead, this time in a bad mood.
He also had 21 necklaces.
Oops!
'Rasmus, you… I thought you were crushing skulls, how do you just tie it up with Proctius?!'
That meant he was the champion. Everything was wrong!
He put his hands back, nervous. Both Proctius and Rasmus were frustrated by the results. As expected, none of the others had more than 21 necklaces.
The priest had a barely concealed laugh on his face when he received the key to open Glax's box.
When the count reached 16, the priest looked up at Glax and then averted his eyes, as there were still a good number of necklaces in the box.
'Um, yes, annoying old man. That small, strange man with a mask, that man is DANGER! ' Glax was unable to avoid the satisfying feeling of slapping him with facts. Or rather, with necklaces.
"Glax of Valosia has 24 necklaces," declared the old man, grudgingly.
"YEAH! He is the best!"Rasmus rejoiced as if it were his victory!
Proctius even turned his body, his face purple with rage. Chriseis uncrossed her arms with a laugh.
"So as the priestess Jolla said! The Ascended Ones decree won't be changed by anything. My husband and I are going up the mountain to speak to the pythoness, and we are going back to the banquet. We must leave tomorrow for the capital."
Glax knew he would have to get used to the idea of being the weaker sex in the relationship. Chriseis' arms were the same thickness as his calves!
Megara pointed to Proctius.
"I choose you, Captain Proctius."
Jolla smiled in relief, and pointed to Rasmus, who looked melted at his blue-haired mermaid. "Rasmus of Valosia, I choose you."
'How lucky!' In fact, even though the beautiful Jolla was his wife, Glax still had no room in his mind or heart for another woman. All he could do was try to surf the situation of being married to the powerful general Chriseis. And, if possible, staying away from her. Generals used to travel a lot.
'Hey, wait. I don't want to be a cuckold either!'
Night had already fallen and the six couples went to a courtyard, where sacrifices and libations were made for the Ascended Gods.
Glax was officially a married man.
He went down the stairs to the temple next to Chriseis, Rasmus and Jolla. Families and friends of the brides and city's important figures waited for the festivities to continue.
"Chriseis, this is my friend Rasmus. We came from Valosia together for the games," he introduced.
"You took three days! Three days to finish it!" She exclaimed. "Why did it take so long?"
"Oh, sorry. We were killing ourselves there while you were having a slumber party."
"What?" Naturally, no one understood what he said without thinking, and he apologized. "You would know why, if you were there."
Chriseis turned to look at him closely, but before either of them could speak, they were intercepted by Proctius.
"GLAX! Come back here! You won't escape me! Venomous adder, shameless liar! Let's fight! Now!"
"Proctius! Enough! Don't ruin everyone's night! " His wife grabbed him by the arm. He was ready to swing and come towards Glax, but temple guards approached, and then Proctius stopped.
"No problem. We will meet, and I will make you pay for it, Glax!"
Nothing stopped Glax from bluffing again!
"It is a pity, Proctius. When that happens, you will force me to do something I tried to avoid. I spared you once, remember that."
Everyone around turned to him with a different look in their eyes!